"Only now do I truly understand what a powerhouse really is. They've reached the final for fourteen consecutive years."
"Just how strong is Itachiyama Institute!?"
When Shoyo thought of that, he could not help feeling a chill in his heart.
He had never expected that they would encounter such a terrifying opponent.
Originally, he had thought Aoba Johsai alone was already incredibly powerful. He had never imagined that Itachiyama Institute, a team they had not even faced yet, would be even stronger.
Their strength was simply impossible to imagine.
Could there really be people who reached the final more easily than anything else?
He simply could not picture that kind of result.
It completely overturned his understanding.
"Not only that, Itachiyama Institute's strength is probably even more frightening than we imagine. After all, the meaning behind reaching the final for fourteen consecutive years is clear."
"It means they've had fourteen years of chances to compete for the championship."
"There's no need to say much about that kind of strength. It's simply terrifying."
Kiyoko could not help speaking.
In her eyes, Itachiyama Institute's strength was indeed terrifying.
Logically speaking, teams stronger than Aoba Johsai were already extremely rare. Yet she had not expected one to appear so quickly in the next match.
This was truly unimaginable.
And the first thing they needed to do next was observe Itachiyama Institute's strong players and overall team strengths as clearly as possible, just in case they encountered them in the future.
"There's no need to question Itachiyama Institute's team strength."
"Their team has two National Youth Team players. Their overall strength is extremely high."
Even Ushijima, who was standing nearby, spoke.
He had played against Itachiyama Institute several times before. During National Youth Team training, he had also gotten to know Sakusa from their team.
It could be said that if one looked at team strength, then Itachiyama Institute could absolutely be considered the strongest team in all of Japan right now.
They could even be treated as Japan's national team.
That alone showed just how terrifying their team's strength truly was.
This was also the direct reason Shiratorizawa could sit firmly at the top of Miyagi Prefecture, yet quickly become an ordinary team after entering Spring High.
Once a team entered the top eight, every opponent they wanted to face next would basically have terrifying team strength.
At that point, it was not a level where a team could continue moving forward by relying on just one player.
But precisely because of that, Ushijima felt even more clearly just how terrifying Hank's strength was.
Hank had actually managed to break into the final while surrounded by so many powerful opponents, and he could even face so many strong enemies almost single-handedly.
That was something Ushijima simply could not do.
From this, it was clear that the gap between him and Hank was becoming more and more obvious.
Perhaps one day in the future, Hank would completely leave him behind.
When that time came, trying to catch up again might become extremely, extremely difficult.
(End of Chapter)
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